I am an undergraduate student at the University of Leeds studying BSc Environmental Science. I am particularly interested in climate change - the science behind it and its impacts, biodiversity and ecology, and sustainable development. I am also currently partaking in a Year in Industry placement at Network Rail working for the Environment and Sustainable Development team. My Laidlaw Research was on the reintroduction of beavers in Scotland, looking at attitudes towards them and trying to understand why they are illegally killed. This particularly interested me as it is vital to understand local opinions on wildlife to succeed in reintroductions and rewilding schemes. For my Laidlaw Leadership Development, I was lucky enough to spend a summer with Think Pacific on an Environment and Sustainable Development project in Fiji. Outside of work and study, I enjoy food (cooking and eating it), as well as sports like powerlifting (which allow me to eat lots without any negatives!), and exploring new places and nature sites.

Hello! My name is Batool and I am a final year Arts and Sciences at UCL. I take classes on environmental sciences, political science and education. For my summer research project, I co-produced a policy brief with student recommendations for sustainable futures in higher education which is addressed to policy makers in universities in the UK.  For my Leadership-in-Action project, I am conducting a similar research project with WWF-Pakistan. I am organising participatory workshops with university students from Lahore and plan to use this research for my undergraduate dissertation. If you have any questions about these projects, or about conducting a research-based LiA please do not hesitate to message me! At UCL I was the President of the UCL Sign Language Society where I led a team of 9 other undergraduate students to organise sign language classes and events to raise awareness of deafness for a society which has over 200 student members. I am currently the Vice President of the Ahlulbayt Islamic Society committee, organising charity campaigns and faith-based awareness events on taking action for global issues. 

I'm a freshman at Columbia University with passion for Economic Development and Political Service. I am educated under practical fieldwork in a rural American county, consular work for the Pakistani Government, and an intensive coursework of Mathematics, Political Science, and Economics courses. When I'm not reading away, you'll find me mentoring high school students navigating the college application process and revitalizing American history curriculums through the UnTextbooked podcast.

Hi, my name is Matt and I am the Global Leadership Programmes Officer at the University of Leeds. I help to manage and run the Laidlaw programme at the university.

I am an undergraduate Laidlaw scholar from Trinity College Dublin, Ireland. I have lived most of my life in Dublin (apart from three years in Berlin - but no, I can't speak German). My main research area is political philosophy; my research interests in particular are in how human rights can be used as an approach to morality, and how we should consider and address 'structural injustices' in society. I also have interests in democratic theory, and heterodox approaches to economics. Outside academia, I am often involved in social/political activism. I'm a keen ultimate frisbee player, and I enjoy chess, table tennis, and hiking. I'm also (slowly) learning French and Polish.

I am a fourth year student in Middle Eastern, Jewish and Islamic Civilizations in Trinity College Dublin. My research focuses on the impact of Covid-19 on the arrival to Europe of Syrian and Palestinian refugees from Lebanon. In the second summer of the scholarship I worked with the Egypt Foundation for Refugee Rights. I am interested in migration, diversity and inclusivity. 

Hi! My name is Jimena Alvarez and I am a Peruvian second year student in Trinity College Dublin. I currently concluded my second year studying Political Science and Economics. My research project is titled "Exploratory research into the support worker’s perceptions of the integration experiences of Ukrainian refugees in Ireland".  The purpose of the research is to gather relevant and comprehensive data about support worker’s perceptions of the integration experiences of Ukrainian refugees in Ireland. I will be conducting a focus group and individual interviews with 12 support workers in the field of refugee aid.  I am very excited to connect with other Laidlaw scholars regardless of how different our research projects may be. I am always interested in learning from people with different backgrounds and interests. Feel free to contact me. See you all soon in the Laidlaw annual conference here in Trinity College Dublin!  

I am a second-year student at the University of Leeds. My research in the summer of 2022 focused on sustainability and equality in surfing culture, and how this relates to surfing's beginnings as a sport and religious practice for indigenous communities in Australia. In my free time I love to surf (shocker), play music and go climbing. 

Sustainable Development student at the University of St Andrews (Class of 2024) and UWC Alumna. My research focuses on exploring pathways to sustainability in the fashion industry, assessing the potential of circular economy models and thinking to address the unsustainability of current production and consumption patterns. 

I am a student of History and the History of Art and Architecture at Trinity College Dublin with a passion for social and cultural history. My research on the intersection of space and sexuality has led me to Urbanism more broadly, with a specific interest in affective experiences of urban space and architecture.

I'm a final year European Studies student, majoring in Spanish and minoring in German, in Trinity College Dublin. My research concerns the memory, experience, and discourse of gendered violence in the Irish and Spanish civil wars. For my LiA, I worked with Women Rights Initiative (WORI), a grassroots, Ugandan women-led women's rights organisation in Jinja, Uganda, focusing on resource mobilisation.

I am a 4th year medical student passionate about human centred clinical research. For my research I will be exploring the attitudes of potential therapy recipients towards novel therapeutics in Parkinson's Disease to improve cognition.  I have lived in 5 different countries across Asia and Europe so far - your quintessential third culture kid:)) I enjoy listening to Indian classical music, playing football and hiking. 

Hi! I’m Lilian and I study English Language and Linguistics at the University of Leeds. My research project looks at reviewing ‘Listening Rooms’, a research methodology used for capturing genuine student experiences at university.

I am currently in my fourth year of an undergraduate degree in Classics/Comparative Literature at the University of St Andrews and am particularly interested in accessibility within academia through public engagement and community building. In my research project Queer Catullus, Catullan Queers, I looked at the history of queer adaptations of poems by the ancient Roman poet Catullus. Based on this research, I set up the collaborative arts project Catullan Identities which invited people to respond to the ancient poems creatively. During my Leadership-in-Action project I transformed this approach into a series of queer creative workshops which I ran in different parts of Scotland and that aimed at empowering queer communities in the face of rising transphobia and queerphobia across the UK. Please feel free to browse the gallery of Catullan Identities on my website and don’t hesitate to get in touch with any questions.

I am a Politics and International Relations student at the University of York. My research project is titled: 'How do social demographic changes influence the spread of populism'. I will look at the Brexit referendum and Trump's election in 2016. These will be my focal points from which I hope to find broader trends about the causes for the growth of populism in modern democracies. Please ask me about anything politics or international relations related, in particular, political behaviour and psychology; i.e. if something happens, what happens next and why?

Hi! I'm Victor Gachoki, an enthusiast in the world of innovative technology. I study Mechatronics and Robotics Engineering and I'm currently in my first year. I love to read, blog and play rugby. Being a Laidlaw Scholar means the world to me, and I can't wait to grasp every inch of experience through both the research and leadership program.